Somewhere
by morning-flower
Summary: I didn't like the final chapter of JK's book so I wrote my own events! GWLP LPHP HGDM GWHP HGRW LPRW Watch out for whirlwind romances, unexpected suicides, and crystal glass throwing at people. This has gotta get kudos for completely outofplace humor :P
1. No One Can Hurt Your Soul

The rain was pouring down with such intense ferocity. Ginny rested her forehead against the glass window and sighed; her breath misting up the pane.

"Why the sigh Ginny?" Harry called out from the other side of her bedroom. "Bored?"

"No." She didn't turn to look at him. "It's just raining. Outside is cold." The glass was cool against her forehead but she didn't remove her skin's contact. No, she lifted a finger to trace out patterns to the side. Harry left the book on Quidditch he was perusing and came to join her.

"What are you thinking about? You seem distant." He traced down her side with a finger and his hands came to rest on her hips. She fought the urge to push him away.

"Nothing's wrong. What could be wrong? Voldermort dead, world saved… heck, everything is how we want it to be." She watched the tree outside the flat bend beneath the onslaught of the rain.

"You're not being all silly and depressed are you?" Harry chided. It was the last straw. Ginny stepped back from the window and out of his arms and crossed to the other side of the room, picking up discarded jackets and shoes they'd dropped earlier.

"I told you, nothing is wrong." Ginny repeated, refusing to look at him. Harry watched her with a furrowed brow.

"Something's wrong. Stop keeping it from me. I have a right to know."

"Look, just shut up!" Ginny yelled, dropping all the items she had gathered. "It's always with the deep thinking and whatnot. I am tired. I am tired of everything now. I am tired of you. Just leave me alone a while."

"Oh, you want me to leave you alone?" Harry demanded, raising his voice. "That's rich, coming from my girlfriend!"

"You're making this more dramatic than it actually is." Ginny stated in a flat tone.

"You're having second thoughts about us, aren't you?" Harry demanded. Ginny stared at him with annoyance bubbling up beneath the surface.

"Oh, asking me that is the best way to cause them if they're not there!" She shouted at him.

"So you are eh?" Harry stared at her, waiting for an answer. Ginny pressed her wrist to her forehead in a gesture of defeat.

"Yeah. Fine. That's it."

"Goodbye then." Harry turned to leave.

"No Harry wait-" Ginny's words were cut off as her slammed the door. She continued with, "Harry! Come back! That wasn't me breaking up with you!"

He didn't come back and she bent to pick up his forgotten jacket off the floor. She felt so lifeless, so cold. If he left so rashly then he mustn't care for her like she thought he did. But she didn't know how to feel about him anyway… they'd all been so caught up in the war and absence always made the heart grow fonder. She folded his jacket and placed it on her chair. She just needed room to think. She was tired with always being in demand.

-

Draco put down his quill and stared at the letter he had composed before him. It was insanity writing to The-Boy-Who-Lived but he wanted to absolve everything that had happened over the past seven years. It had been over a year since Voldermort had died and he had seen anyone, and the time had given him room to think.

_Dear Harry,_

_You will be surprised that I am writing to you, but with time has come maturity and I would like to apologise for numerous grievances over the years. Please accept this offering of peace. I would like to be counted as an amiable acquaintance, if not a friend. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Draco Malfoy._

Even if Harry laughed in his face it was worth a try.

-

Lavender was sitting in the tavern alone when of all people, Harry Potter, stormed in.

"Harry! Ah! Haven't seen you in an age!" She squealed upon sight of him. "How have you been? Ooh are you and Ginny getting married yet?" She almost recoiled at the glare she received for the last comment she threw at him but relaxed as he took a seat next to her at the bar. "Oh are you not together anymore? Oh that's too bad." She waited for an answer but he kept silent. She placed her fingers on his forearm in an expression of comfort.

"Not much to do now Voldermort's gone." Harry stated baldly, ordering a fire-whiskey and drowning it in a few quick gulps. "I mean, why would you even bother being an Auror? Who's there to fight?"

"Oh you sound disillusioned." She sighed, trying to find something better to say but failing. She watched Harry order and drink another fire-whiskey and then broached the subject of Ginny again. "How is Ginny?"

"Sick of me. I walked out before. Screw her. She can bloody well take a flying leap off a bridge for all I care." He seemed angry.

"What did she do?" Lavender asked, concerned.

"I think the worst thing anyone can say is that they're tired of you. I don't care if they forget to meet you, but straight out claiming to need a break is the most disheartening."

"Did she say that?" Lavender was appalled. How could anyone not like Harry Potter?

"Pretty much. I think I heard her calling me back after I left but if she truly cared she'd have run after me. I'm sick of people hanging on for the ride. I had too many false friends after I killed Voldermort. Hero status does that to you."

"Yeah that must suck." Lavender agreed, rubbing Harry's arm. He noticed her touch for the first time and turned to look at her. She felt a pang as their eyes met, but then he turned and finished off his fire-whiskey.

"I have to go to Ron's." Harry declared. "See you."

He was up and gone before Lavender had a chance to say anything to stop his departure.

-

Ron laughed as Hermione threw yet another glass in his direction.

"It was just talking, alright?" He insisted. It was probably my brother with her when your friend saw them!"

"It was you! There is no better description than 'his face was as red as a beetroot when he noticed I'd seen them!" Hermione yelled, reaching for another glass. He'd caught the previous missile.

"Look, this is the crystal-ware we got from your parents." Ron protested. "You've already broken four stems!"

"I don't care!" Hermione yelled, flinging the glass towards his head. "Explain how you didn't come home the other night! Ugh, I can't believe you. So shy until you get me, and then your sexual prowess is released. I was the one who gave you that confidence! Give it back!"

"Look, you're imagining thing-" Ron was cut off as a glass hit his head. "Fine. Damn it Hermione. It was stupid and I shouldn't have gone out with her."

"Now the truth comes out!" Hermione spat in indignation. She lifted another glass up.

"I did go to her place but we didn't do anything- it was only talking!"

"Oh that's even worse!" Hermione sobbed. "You don't talk all night to someone you only lust for!" She threw the glass at her feet and stepped backwards; ignoring the sliver of glass that impaled her toe. "I can't stay with you knowing you've cheated on me. I've too much self-respect."

"No Hermione- no, please, Hermione!" Ron moved to go to her but she warded him off, balancing on one leg to pick the glass out of her foot.

"Take this god damn ring back." She told him bluntly, pulling off the copper band they'd bought when they visited his brothers in Romania. "I don't want you to talk to me. I waited years for you. I waited forever for you." Hermione placed it on the tabletop and then after grabbing her shoes she left their shared flat; her fiancé staring at her leaving with a truly desolate expression upon his face.

-

Draco was walking down the street with a curiously free feeling when he almost collided with the last person he expected to see: Granger, or rather, Hermione.

"Hello!" He smiled jovially. "How're you?"

He was greeted with an expression of complete distrust.

"Hello Malfoy. What do you want?" Her face was streaked with tears, he noted idly.

"What happened to you?" He demanded, mortified someone could have done something horrible. As far as he was concerned, the world was meant to be a jolly place without Voldermort and the various Death Eaters.

"Why would you care?" She spat angrily at him. Draco furrowed his brow as he stared at her and then started as he felt a raindrop tap his shoulder. Hermione was out without a coat but his own was an ample cloak. He moved to her side and draped it over her as he moved her towards the nearest restaurant.

"Look, let's just go have dinner –my shout, of course- and you don't have to tell me anything but at least you'll feel better, hmm?" He suggested. Hermione appeared to try and say something, but when he glanced at her she was simply wiping at her eyes so he said nothing and assumed she agreed.

-

Harry poked his head around the doorway at Ron's and blanched at the mess of glass everywhere.

"Blimey, what the hell happened in here?" He demanded of his red-haired friend who was slumped against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Ron lifted his head to give him a 'don't ask' look, but then filled him in.

"I went on a date with Lavender, stupidly, and Hermione found out." Ron looked as though he didn't need a telling off so Harry held back from giving one.

"Jesus. That's got to be the- well, you can't go back in time now. When did she do this?" Harry asked, surveying the scene.

"About an hour and a half ago. She walked out. Didn't take a bag, keys, purse, anything. I think she's gone to her mums."

"Jesus. Think she'll come back?" Harry asked his friend.

"Nope." Ron buried his face in his hands and then looked back at Harry as he realised he had no idea why his friend was there. "What have you come around for?"

"Oh," Harry thought back to him and Ginny and in comparison to Ron's situation it didn't seem that big a deal. He decided to censor it. "Had an argument with Ginny but it's no biggy. I should get back though… you okay man? Why don't you come back for the night?"

Ron took one look at his kitchen. "Sounds like a plan."

-

Lavender was walking back home from the tavern when she came to the walkway that passed over a bridge. It was quite high above the waterways and rather steep on either side. Suddenly she started… no, she had imagined it. For an instant she could have sworn she saw a figure standing on the side of the wall that ran along both sides of the path, -but that was insanity. No one would be foolish enough to risk that… would they?

She walked closer to the bridge and heard a ripping sound. Lavender picked up speed and as she got to the middle of the bridge she heard a splash. She looked over the side but it was too dark to see.

"Hello?" She cried, hanging over to peer at the water below. "Has someone fallen in there?" She shuddered, the water had to be at least ten meters from the level of the path, and the sides of the river were –even though the river itself was always calm- cliffs. She hoped it wasn't a drunkard who had fallen in. There was no way out.

After staring into the dark water for sometime she decided she must have imagined it and continued walking to her house. She never noticed the scrap of robe material caught on a jagged stone at the side, or the blood dotting the bridge's wall stones.

-

Hermione leant against the base on her palm as she watched Draco finishing his meal of spaghetti bolognaise.

"You have really changed, haven't you?" She smiled. The last hour or so of them chatting and eating had really warmed her to him considerably. He smiled a roguish smile at her, and then completely ruined the effect by trying to get too much from his fork into his mouth at once. Hermione laughed harmoniously.

"I've turned over a new leaf." He claimed, but of course because of the food in his mouth, none of this came out clearly. He swallowed, and then repeated his words.

"How so?" Hermione asked playfully.

"I wrote Harry Potter a letter. Not just any letter! A letter offering a truce… a peace offering. Hopefully it works." Draco smiled at Hermione's incredulous look.

"You think he'll accept that?" She blurted out before she could stop herself.

"Hey, at least I know I've done all I can." Draco shrugged. He gave her a narrowed glance. "So, what was up earlier? Care to tell me?"

Hermione almost told him to stuff it but then realised he'd been particularly nice to her so decided to explain. It was the least she could do. "Well, I found out Ron cheated on me… so I walked out."

"But you had none of your things with you!" Draco burst out, aghast.

"I know… so thanks for saving me. Dinner was nice." Hermione blushed.

"Where are you going to stay tonight?' Draco demanded.

"I don't know." And she honestly didn't. She didn't really care.

"I have a spare room at my flat." Draco informed her, stifling any protests she could possibly have. "No buts… I'm not going to try anything anyway, and I won't have you wandering around town like a homeless person. You're coming home with me, Hermione."

What could she say? She accepted his offer.

-

Harry unlocked the door of his and Ginny's flat and called out to her as Ron followed him inside. The place was completely dark.

"Ginny?" Harry called. "Are you home?" The two men picked their way into the house and on the kitchen table Harry found a letter address to him. With a sinking heart he broke the seal.

_Dear Harry,_

_You will be surprised that I am writing to you, but with time has come maturity and I would like to apologise for numerous grievances over the years. Please accept this offering of peace. I would like to be counted as an amiable acquaintance, if not a friend. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Draco Malfoy._

He almost laughed with relief as he finished reading it. Malfoy! That was hardly bad news.

"Read this, Ron." Harry snickered, tossing the note to his friend. Ron too erupted into snorts of laughter.

"Slimy git. As if you'll forgive him after years of torment." Ron chucked the letter onto the smouldering fireplace as they entered the lounge and Harry vanished into Ginny's bedroom.

"She's not here." He said in a worried tone, emerging quickly. "Geeze Ron, I hope she hasn't left me like-"

"Like Hermione's left me?" Ron asked bluntly. "I know that's what you're thinking. But c'mon, unless you've cheated on her I doubt that's the case.

"I guess." Harry ran his fingers through his hair as Ron vanished into the kitchen to make them coffee. He was still worried.

-

Hermione looked at Draco's apartment with appreciation as she followed him in as he lit the lights with his wand. He turned to smile at her and gestured for her to take a seat on the comfortable couch in the middle of the lounge.

"What would you like to drink?" He called out to her as he moved into the open plan kitchen.

"What are you having?" She threw back.

"Fire-whiskey it is then!" Draco declared. He joined her after a few moments with the drink on ice in tumbler glasses and they clinked them together before taking drinks from them. Hermione looked around the room and smiled as her eyes fell upon Draco's large bookshelves stuffed with books –all of which appeared to be dog-eared. She liked nothing better than someone who truly enjoyed books. She abhorred those who collected books to look good.

"How are you feeling?" Draco asked her, startling her back into the moment. She turned to smile at him and he flushed with pleasure at the blatant goodwill she was showering him with. They indeed looking a lovely pair: He was dressed in dark slacks and navy dress-shirt under black robes, and her with muggle stockings under a pleated knee-length grey wool skirt with a black top. Her shoes blatantly clashed with her outfit but that was understandable seeing as she'd grabbed any as she flew out the door of her flat earlier.

"I'm feeling better, thanks to you." She told him, her eyes flickering over his face and pausing at his lips. Draco noticed this and shifted so he sat straighter, unsure how to react. Hermione's eyes looked back up at his and a mutual understanding passed between them.

"No, you're not just- because Ron?" Draco asked, furrowing his brow. Hermione just looked at him. He looked at her, then at her lips, and then at her hands which were inches from his own. Their bodies were tilted towards each other; relaxed, at ease… their eyes met again.

"I can't believe I didn't see you before." Hermione declared whilst shaking her head in disbelief. That sealed it. Draco leant it to kiss her and she moved in to reciprocate; losing herself in the embrace.

-

Harry awoke the next day to the realisation he'd spent the night sleeping in his armchair. Ron looked as though he'd done the same thing also.

"She back yet?" Ron asked groggily, referring to Ginny. Harry got up and did a quick check and then came back, shaking his head. It was odd… he was slightly worried but couldn't do anything. He walked through into the bathroom and stripped before showering. He'd dress and then walk around town. Hopefully she'd gone and visited a friend… maybe she'd bumped into Lavender.

-

Hermione woke up on Draco's couch tucked up in a duvet he'd obviously pulled off the spare bed- so much for sleeping in it. A pillow had been propped under her head and as she sat up on her elbow she smelt the distinct aroma of bacon and eggs wafting across the room from the kitchen towards her. She enthusiastically poked her head over the back of the couch and Draco waved the spatula cheerily.

"Good morning." He greeted. "You fell asleep after we watched that move so I left you there."

"Oh thank you for the duvet and pillow then." Hermione smiled.

"Oh don't worry, you owe me your first born child, that's all." He muttered sarcastically. Draco then realised the implications of his statement and shook his head. "Or like, your hand." He realised the connotations with that statement too and gave up. Hermione laughed.

"Is that coffee I smell?" She eagerly asked. He nodded.

"I ground the beans earlier. I didn't roast them, so sorry if that disappoints you."

"Ha, oh definitely." Hermione snorted. She shook back her curly hair and then clambered off the couch. "Where is your bathroom? I should make myself decent."

"Down the hall to your left." Draco informed her. "And thank god, I was about to claw my eyes out."

She threw the pillow at him on her way out of the room.

-

Ron was definitely depressed. Harry wanted to comfort him, but with each approaching hour he was getting more and more worried about Ginny. They'd wandered around town for about two hours that morning but hadn't managed to find Ginny, and they'd even talking to her friends, albeit Lavender, who'd been hard to contact.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Harry rushed to answer it and gaped at devastated-looking Lavender. She was holding a scrap of robe he recognised as belonging to Ginny.

"Where did you find that?" He demanded. Lavender said nothing as he snatched it from her and then she let go as tears coursed from her eyes.

"I was walking home last night over the bridge when I heard a tearing sound. I went back this morning –I was too drunk to think clearly about the sound last night- and found this on the outer side of the bridge. Last night I heard a splash too. Please don't tell me this is Ginny's, Harry. Please. Please tell me she didn't fall in."

Harry couldn't say anything, he just ran past her out the door. He knew a place where the river narrowed; where branches and twigs got caught and had to be cleaned out fortnightly so that a damn didn't get created. If she had fallen… that is where she'd be.

It took him fifteen to twenty minutes to get there –a secluded area just outside of town, in a more rural area, hidden by trees- and his heart plummeted as he saw the colour of the robe Ginny had been wearing yesterday amongst the rubble caught up in the river neck. She was suspended peacefully on the bits of driftwood there; her skin was slightly swollen from all the water but as she was mostly propped out of it now she had obviously improved from how she'd have looked after she'd first drowned. Harry waded in towards her –the sides of the bank were small here, the cliffs got lower the further they stretched away from town- and stood by her, caressing her face.

"_Sick of me. I walked out before. Screw her. She can bloody well take a flying leap off a bridge for all I care."_

But he did care. He definitely cared.

Harry gently lifted her up in his arms and waded back to the edge of the bank to begin the long, hard journey home.

-

Hermione emerged from the bathroom and entered the kitchen just as Draco was laying breakfast out on the table. Her wand had worked wonders, -even without toothpaste, makeup, etc, various cosmetic spells had done the job of their counterparts and she was refreshed. He went into the kitchen to fetch orange juice and as he turned Hermione was there, smiling at him. It created butterflies in his stomach, this, because he'd always been surrounded with bitter people. This last year had been spent with him mostly being alone, reading books… occasionally running into acquaintances as he shopped, but here was a living person, someone who _liked_ him. He bent down to kiss her softly on the lips. She smiled into the kiss.

"Well here is breakfast." He declared, straightening up. On the table sat bacon and eggs, toast, jams and jellies, and once he reached it, orange juice would too. Hermione took the jug from him and moved towards the table as he doubled back for the glasses.

"You are amazing." Hermione declared.

-

Ron didn't believe it was true when he initially saw Harry walking up to him with his baby sister in his arms. When it dawned, however, he took Ginny from Harry and ran back into the house, laying her on the sofa. In almost no time at all, the authorities had been alerted and a Medi-witch showed up to inspect Ginny for signs of death, etc. She was taken away and aurors showed up to talk to Harry, Ron and Lavender. It was definitely a suicide, and slowly, the rest of the Weasley clan were informed.

"You said it was just a small fight Harry." Ron later said to him, tearful. "What the hell happened?"

"I walked out on her." Harry said, shaking his head. "But when I saw what had happened with you and Hermione I assumed my fight hadn't been so bad. Jesus…" Harry found he couldn't talk any longer. It was all too much. Ron looked at him and acknowledged it wasn't his friends fault. Poor Ginny. Poor, sad Ginny.

-

"I should touch base with Ron again, just so he doesn't think I'm dead." Hermione declared, later that day. Draco shook his head emphatically.

"No, no stay here. No wait, we'll go on a trip together. For once leave everything behind. C'mon, be adventurous Granger." Draco wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck. "Where do you want to go? Anywhere is possible."

Hermione turned to smile at him as possibilities dawned on her. "We could go to Italy! Check out the paintings!"

"Okay. We can go now. All you need is your apparating license. Don't bother getting clothes. That can be done over there." Draco began waving his wand around, cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen with it. Hermione laughed in excitement as it all happened.

"Oh you are so fantastic! So we just go to the ministry's port and apparate into the other country?" Hermione asked.

"Yes! Right, I'll just cast a charm on the flat to keep it safe and we can go." Draco finished putting everything away and grasped Hermione's hand, pulling her to the front door. He shut it, cast the charm and then turned to plant a kiss on her forehead. Hermione felt invigorated with this new sense of freedom. He pulled her into an embrace and then they disapparated together.

No one even saw them leave.

-

"Where the hell is Hermione?" Ron demanded that evening. "I haven't seen her since she left. What if she's dead too?"

Ron's mother hushed him tearfully and Harry barely managed to raise his head to look at him. He couldn't believe that a simple fight had resulted in Ginny's death. It was horrible.

"Ron I'm sure she's okay." Lavender reassured him. He looked at her and Harry noted that whilst his friend was still worried, he gave Lavender a grateful smile. It was fairly obvious he did have a thing for her.

"In a different situation I'd tell you off something dreadful for what you did to Hermione, Ronald," Mrs. Weasley began, "but I can't. Lavender, you're a lovely girl. You can't help Ronald being a ladies man."

"Mum!" Ron spluttered. Harry had to grin at that, but then he sobered once more.

-

**A/N:** I may go on further than this but that is still undecided. I hope you enjoyed it.


	2. The Truth Will Free My Soul

Harry walked into Ginny's room and closed the door quietly behind him. A day or so had passed since she'd drowned and the funeral was that afternoon. No one had heard from Hermione… wondering where she was simply added to the tension everyone was under. Harry was after something: a flat red leather diary with crisp, thick parchment pages Ginny always wrote in. It was slightly larger than A4 and though it seemed thin, it had masses of pages within; each one with thin golden lines. Ginny had always written in it with a particular black ink and fine quill. The one time he'd almost come close enough to look at what she was writing she had slammed it shut, -no doubt marring the page with huge blots, but he hadn't asked what she'd hidden. She was entitled to her secrets… but now he wanted to find it. He hoped it would give him some clue as to what had gone wrong.

She had drawers next to her queen bed and he opened every single one, finding that the bottom one was shallower than the rest. It was blatantly obvious it had a false bottom, and sure enough Harry managed to pry it up and beneath it sat the diary, plus oddly enough… muggle photographs of Lavender,

Harry ignored the photographs and sat against Ginny's pillows with the diary and opened it to the first page. He recognised the entry… it was about the New Years that he, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had spent together at the Burrow:

_I can't imagine the world being a more perfect place. Everyone is so happy… the future seems so bright. I love everyone so much…_

He skipped the page, refusing to be lost in his sadness at the reminder of the happy memories. Flicking through, he paused when he came to a page that appeared to have messier, excited handwriting.

_Of all people I ran into Lavender today. I remember back in fifth year I thought I had a crush on her. It was quite stupid of me at the time, but oh gosh, she is looking really pretty now… not that she wasn't when we were younger, but her hair is longer now and she has this healthy glow. I asked her if she was seeing anyone and she said no and then she said she wasn't sure who she wanted to see anyway. When I asked her she went, 'oh there are too many pretty boys and girls'. I was confused at first but then she told me she was bi-sexual. I think that's amazing, to be able to come out with something like that. I said something stupid like, 'good on you'. God I'm an idiot._

Harry froze and looked at the wall with a decidedly set jaw. No, this couldn't be implying what he thought it was. Slowly, he reached down and took the photographs of Lavender out of the draw. They were mixed, -some from when Ginny was in fifth year (it appeared the red-head had gone out of her way to get Lavender to jump into photographs with her- and some from this year, the year of the diary entry, where the two had popped into one of those 'novelty muggle stalls' –the wizard photo places that developed things the muggle way. Harry placed these photographs on the bedspread beside him and continued flicking through the diary.

_I've been feeling really depressed but I don't have a valid reason. Also, Harry is wonderful but I'm starting to feel like I'm going through the motions. What happened to this intense love I used to feel for him? He's so wonderful but I feel nothing. I feel so numb, so lifeless._

He flicked through a few more pages of similar entries.

_Am I gay? Am I? God, I don't even know myself. I can't tell anyone. Imagine breaking up with Harry… god, telling him why –when I'm not sure- Jesus, that's impossible! I don't even know if it's possible to like both… guys and girls… but I don't know. Oh I have no idea what to do. I saw Lavender again today. She asked me if I wanted to go clubbing with her sometime. I said that would be good… but she didn't say when. _

Harry had to look away from the diary once more as he recalled with a sick feeling in his stomach the time a few weeks back when Ginny had gone out for the night citing 'dancing' as the reason. She'd come back decidedly changed afterwards. He flicked forward a few pages.

_I went out with Lavender last night. It was amazing… nothing happened, of course, but oh god, I've captivated by her. There were all these good-looking guys, but all I could look at was her. Her beautiful dark skin and she was wearing the most amazing outfit. This isn't twisted vanity is it? I don't admire her because I want to look like her, do I? I didn't tell Harry who I'd been out with… I fear it'd be painfully obvious how I felt. He tried to kiss me properly tonight and I turned away. It's not that he's repulsive… I just… can't._

Harry kept turning pages until he almost reached the most recent entry.

_I saw Lavender and Ron together tonight. I told Hermione- I had to! I asked her not to mention it was me or anything. I insisted that she say the person who saw them noticed 'he blushed bright red' or something… but oh my god. They weren't all over each other or anything, but I could see how they felt. I guess it was a stupid little crush I had on her again. Why does no one ever reciprocate my feelings for them? I know Harry loves me, but that's hollow if you can't feel anything for them anymore. It doesn't make a difference at all._

At last, Harry came to the final entry.

_Harry thinks I've broken up with him. Curiously, I feel free, but at the same time I feel utterly bereft. This town is too small. I mean, even if I am… you know… that way inclined… there's no one else like that apart from… and she's obviously set her sights on my brother –whom Hermione has probably dumped by now. I'm too young to be tied down… and I live in the same flat as my god damn ex-boyfriend now. I have no one who understands. I need to go for a walk. I think I will. _

Harry scanned the next few pages for elaboration but found nothing. There was no suicide note, no anything. Ginny had just decided to go for a walk.

He picked up the photographs of Ginny and Lavender again and scanned his girlfriend's face for signs of the inner monologue that had been running through her head. Why? Why had she done it? She didn't even seem particularly sad in her last diary entry.

-

Draco and Hermione arrived at the ministry port and smilingly handed over their apparition licenses. The official checked them and then an Auror was summoned, who approached Hermione.

"You've been reported missing." He informed her, causing her to widen her eyes. She let out a bark of laughter.

"Oh, I broke up with my boyfriend- I walked out- and uh, didn't feel the need to contact him. I don't have to, do I?" She asked innocently. The Auror stared at her and then addressed Draco.

"We'll have to inform the people that she's been found. We do however have some bad news to tell her though."

"I'm right here." Hermione said tersely. "What are you talking about?"

"Guinevere Weasley has passed away." The Auror said bluntly. Hermione blinked at him, uncomprehending, and then felt faint, clutching at Draco's arm as she almost fell. He immediately turned to hold her up and threw a glare at the Auror.

"What happened? Could you not have said that in a gentler fashion?" Draco demanded scathingly.

"I was informed to tell the lady on sight." The Auror replied in an equally scathing tone. "It was suicide. The family is awaiting confirmation that Miss Granger is safe and well. I am under instructions to escort the lady to their side, after which, she can do as she pleases."

"Draco…" Hermione whispered. The man in question turned to see a pleading in her eyes. "This isn't real, right? Didn't we just spend the last few days together? Isn't this meant to be fun and safe?"

"Grang-" Draco stopped and moved his arms around her so that she was in a hug. "Let's take you to the Weasley's… then we'll sort out everything."

-

_Harry had just walked back into the lounge where Ron, Lavender, Molly and Arthur were gathered. The other Weasley's had gone into town to organise last minute affairs. Ginny's coffin was in the adjoining room. There was a crack, and Malfoy, Hermione and someone who was presumably an Auror, appeared._

_"Here is the missing girl." The Auror announced to Arthur Weasley. "Caught her on her way out of the country with that fellow. Anyway, must be going." He vanished with a pop._

_"Malfoy!" Ron erupted suddenly. Lavender was forgotten, he pointed a shaking finger at the blonde man he'd hated all throughout Hogwarts. "How dare you lay a finger on Hermione!"_

_The man getting yelled at ignored him as he led a numb Hermione over to the couch. Harry suddenly told Ron to shut up and threw some photographs at Lavender._

_"Evidentially, this is all your fault." He informed her._

_"What?" Lavender blurted, confused. She looked at the photos and shrugged. "These are just photos with Ginny."_

_"Yeah, you bi-sexual let's-influence-Harry's-girlfriend idiot! She had a crush on you and you got with Ron right in front of her!" Harry shouted._

_"Hey yeah Ron, and you have the audacity to have a go at Draco?" Hermione snapped, coming out of her reverie. Ron went bright red._

_"Are you saying I play a part in my sister's suicide?" He shouted back. Arthur and Molly looked mortified but neither said a word to stop the argument._

_"How do you know this?" Lavender demanded._

_"She wrote it in her diary." _

_"I played a part?" Ron repeated, this time in mortification._

_"You didn't play a part if you were unwitting!" Lavender snapped at him. Then to herself, "I thought she had a crush on me…"_

_"My girlfriend was gay!" Harry announced to no-one in particular. Molly hissed a sharp intake of breath. Arthur patted her arm comfortingly._

_"This is shaping up like a rather bad soap." Draco commented blandly to himself. Molly threw her teacup at him._

_"How dare you refer these events to a mindless drama! My darling daughter is dead!" She screeched. Draco looked mortified too now._

_"I didn't mean it like that!" He insisted. Molly erupted again at him and soon their voices were lost in the din of Hermione leaping in to defend Draco, Arthur trying to calm his wife down, Harry shouting at Lavender and Ron in turn, and the latter two arguing with Harry, as well as each other. Amongst this, Draco extracted himself and stood at the other side of the room to watch in awe the voices shouting at each other; he completely missed the movement of someone flitting past the window. Gradually the arguing people lost their passion as they in turn followed suit. People stood around looking slightly confused as to what they could do now, and Harry sat glaring at Lavender._

_"I can't help how she felt." Lavender muttered through clenched teeth. Harry continued to glare at her. Ron eventually reached over the clip him across the ear._

_"You're all behaving disgracefully!" Molly Weasley shouted at everyone. "Regardless of the circumstances of this… tragedy… we must honour Ginny's memory. Please." She wiped tears from the corners of her eye and everyone stood up as the Weasley mother moved into the adjoining room where Ginny's coffin lay. Arthur joined her and you could hear their gentle sniffing until a creak sounded as the coffin lid was opened, and a yell permeated through into the room the others were still in. Arthur raced back in._

_"Ginny! Her body's gone!" He informed them. Then he fainted from sheer shock._

_-_

_Percy Weasley lay his sister on the grass next to the edge of the bank where she had been found and turned to look at her ghost. It was in a bedraggled state, this ghost, but it was still Ginny. She looked at her corpse as though it was something foreign._

_"C'mon sis', you've obviously got some unfinished business. It's barely been three days… that's the grace period. Get back in there." Percy insisted. Ginny's apparition stared at him wordlessly. He lifted her corpse up until its head was in his lap and implored her with his gaze. Ginny drifted a few inches closer to her corpse and showed visible surprise as something appeared to tether her to it. Percy smiled. _

_"I knew it! I knew it! C'mon sis', don't resist it. Give into the grace that's holding you to it." He watched Ginny's spirit look at him with blank eyes and then the tether holding her intensified and slowly, ever so slowly, she drifted back in and with a gasp Ginny sat up, back in her own body, and she coughed up a huge amount of river-water. Percy laughed for sheer joy and clapped his sister to his heart with an embrace._

_"How do you feel Ginny?" He demanded. She pushed him back a bit and shoved her hair out of her face. The parlour make-up made her look particularly ghastly._

_"I feel like death." She informed him. They looked at each other and then both broke into peels of laughter._

_-_

_It was with complete incomprehension that everyone greeted Ginny once she returned back to her flat. Afterwards, however, there were tears and laughter. Harry sat apart from everyone. What was intended to be the wake turned into a celebration party and drinks were shared around everyone. Ginny tried to talk to everyone._

_-_

_Hermione: I couldn't believe it when I heard. Why?_

_Ginny: I didn't actually intend to throw myself in the lake but it was dark and I just didn't care when it happened. You know?_

_Hermione: You won't repeat it, will you?_

_Ginny: No… no… how can you repeat something you never planned?_

_-_

_Lavender: It wasn't because of Ron and I was it?_

_Ginny: Not really. Maybe. I don't know._

_Lavender: I'm sorry._

_Ginny: Don't be. I get it. Sometimes you just can't feel even when you try._

_-_

_Ron: How could you?_

_Ginny: I didn't intend to._

_Ron: Well… you're just lucky you're back then._

_Ginny: Oh Ron, you're priceless!_

_-_

_Molly & Arthur: Oh my darling girl… never, ever think you have no choice again!_

_Ginny: I didn't choose this. I'm sorry._

_-_

_Percy: You must be glad I know my wizard lore._

_Ginny: Oh definitely!_

_-_

_Ginny walked into her bedroom where Harry sat with her diary and photographs of Lavender. He gave her a stony look and she felt despair well up in her._

_"I'm so sorry Harry." Ginny started. He hushed her._

_"I always felt insecure and I kept telling myself I was being stupid, but now I know I picked up what you were thinking! You are the epitome of selfishness! I could've died all those times but I didn't. You develop some stupid crush and then think the best way to deal with it is to jump off a fucking bridge?"_

_"It was an accident." Ginny protested._

_"Lavender heard you fall and you didn't even scream!" _

_"I wasn't in a right state of mind, Harry."_

_"When are you ever in a right state of mind?" He demanded._

_"Oh what is your problem?" Ginny demanded in a tired tone. "It's always about you. I am the victim here. I died here. I'm not coming back."_

_"What are you talking about?" Harry asked in bewilderment._

_"Come here, Harry." Ginny whispered. Unsure, he approached her and she kissed him, but this was different. This was strange…_

Harry woke with a start to find Lavender in the middle of sticking her tongue down his throat. With a stifled gasp he pushed her away. She fell off of Ginny's queen-sized bed and gave him an unreadable look. Harry looked both sides of him to see the dairy and the photographs and realised he'd been in the midst of a realistic, wishful-thinking dream. Ginny was still dead.

"What the hell are you doing?" Harry demanded. Lavender looked down at the floor and then at him again.

"This isn't hero-worship Harry." She eventually managed. Harry continued to gape at her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He blurted out, finally.

"Look, she was tired of you and had a thing for me. Do you know how it feels to have someone so obviously into you when it's not wanted?" Lavender winced.

"What are you on about? Why did you kiss me?" Harry demanded.

"She was standing on the top of the bridge wall like an oversized bird. I startled her."

"What?" Harry asked in a shocked tone, staring at the girl on the floor before him, her eyes welling up with tears.

"I didn't actually touch her, but she was standing up there as though the wind was enabling her to fly. I came around the corner and glimpsed her balancing –I've even done that before. When you need to think, a little danger is exhilarating. I came around the corner and it's like being caught in the act. She jumped, and her foot slipped. I got there in time to grab a hold of her robe but it… ripped."

Harry thought back to the scrap that Lavender, devastated-looking, had brought him.

"I cut my hand open trying to hold onto her." Lavender proffered her wrist; stone had gouged it beside the vein. She hadn't even bothered to heal it with a spell. "I truly think she went out there to think."

"I'm going to have to tell everyone." Harry insisted. Lavender stood up and walked over to him, placing a finger upon his lips.

"But then I'd have to stop you somehow… and how could I do that?" She asked. Lavender lowered her lips to kiss him and being the male he was, he almost went with it but then pushed her away.

"You're unbelievable!" He yelled. Lavender went to try and embrace him again and he hit her. She gasped but didn't seem afraid. This infuriated him. He hit her again. Dazed, she slumped to the floor.

"But Harry-" She began. He reached for the diary and began ripping out pages, hurling them at her.

"Look what you've done! You _knew_ and you still got with Ron? You broke up a perfect relationship! You killed someone!"

"I didn't kill anyone!"

"And now you try and seduce me? What is wrong with you?"

"I love you Harry! I _love_ you!" Lavender screamed. Both fell silent and Harry dropped Ginny's diary at his side, standing silently.

"When I saw you a couple of days ago it all came rushing back. I know I went on a date with Ron but c'mon, nothing happened and sometimes you go on dates for the sake of doing so. Let me in." Lavender whispered.

"You killed Ginny." Harry murmured in shock.

"Not intentionally. She was going to leave you." Lavender quickly tried to explain.

"Everyone thinks it was a suicide… do you know how much more that makes it hurt?" Harry continued.

"Do you love me?" Lavender asked him. Harry looked at her with an expression of disgust.

"No. I love Ginny. You've never measure up to her." And with that, he walked out the room, leaving her on the floor.

-

Ron walked into Ginny's room and whistled deprecatingly at the mess of pages within.

"Harry reading a particularly bad book eh?" He joked tastelessly. Lavender burst into tears.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" He asked worriedly. She turned to snake her arms around him and Ron absentmindedly stroked her back, patiently waiting for explanation.

"I told him I loved him and he went mental at me." She sobbed. Ron immediately took his arms away from her.

"What?"

"I told Harry I loved him." Lavender sniffed, drying her eyes a little. Ron looked livid.

"You string me along, try to make a move on Harry, let me comfort you and then reject me like this? Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I-" She began.

"I don't even want to hear," Ron snapped, and he left the room.

-

Draco and Hermione paused before the front door of Ginny's flat as the Auror left them and took a look at each other.

"I wonder how everyone's coping." Hermione wondered aloud. Draco squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"We don't have to go in now. Things might be messy." He warned.

"But I have to pay my respects to her…" Hermione started. Draco looked down into her lovely brown eyes.

"That can be done in your heart." He smiled sadly. Hermione jumped as she heard raised voices from the upstairs window.

"Was that Lavender and Harry?" She demanded. They waited a few moments and then heard another raised voice screaming at the girl.

"It sounds chaotic." Draco remarked, aghast.

"Maybe we should go later…" Hermione wondered aloud. A vase sailed out through the upstairs window and shattered on the footpath. The pair stared at it with wide eyes.

"Is it _safe_?" Draco sounded petrified.

"Let's leave a note." Hermione suggested.

"They're you're good friends!" Draco gasped.

"One of whom cheated on me. I just- I just want a break." Hermione stepped backwards away from the house, tugging at Draco's hand. "Get away from all the drama, all the- I don't want to think about her. I want to get away. I need to get away. This atmosphere is stifling me. I don't want to walk into that chaos. It will engulf me. Ron will try and be with me again because he will be sad over Ginny's death and I don't want that. I want the new, I want you. I want the unknown. Let's run away. Let's run away anywhere but here."

"Are you sure? You won't be able to come back… they'll believe you abandoned them…" Draco warned.

"I need escape. I need freedom. Let's just run and not look back." Hermione insisted. Draco grasped her elbows and stared into her eyes as her hands grazed his sides. He sought confirmation and found it, and pulled her closer to him as her head tucked against his shoulder and he apparated away.

They were miles away in the middle of a vast field. Draco flicked his wand and after a moment a picnic hamper, tablecloth and the other essentials zoomed in from presumably the direction of his flat or the old Malfoy Manor. He laid the tablecloth out on the grass, opened the hamper and pulled out champagne; the latter which he popped open (storing the cork back in the basket –he was not going to litter) and poured into two long-stemmed glasses. Hermione had lapsed into a trouble silence but she forced herself to brighten up and knocked back the champagne quickly. Draco nearly lost his as she kissed him, and then actually mentally shrugged and let it fall onto the grass as he kissed her back.

Hell, running away might not always be the smartest option, but it was the best you could do when things got too much for you.


End file.
